Minister rejects tourism resort near Bosscha Observatory

Riva Fadillah and Muninggar Sri Saraswati The Jakarta Post Bandung/Jakarta

The State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim raised his opposition on Tuesday against the plan to develop a tourism resort in conservation areas around the Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, West Java, saying the move may lead to the closure of the historical observatory.

"The Bosscha Observatory is a national asset, we must preserve it," Nabiel told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Bosscha Observatory is the closest observatory to the equator in the world.

Nabiel blasted the Bandung administration for issuing a bylaw that would violate the existing landscape, which has already suffered from unchecked development and ensuing environmental degradation.

"This has become my concern. City councils usually approve the change of an existing landscape to turn conservation areas (into commercial areas). They always play the game when there is a (commercial) project," he said.

Nabiel asserted that any private company interested in developing a tourism resort around the observatory must provide the required Environmental Assessment Analysis (Amdal) before embarking on the project.

Residents living near the observatory have also expressed their strong opposition to the resort project, fearing considerable environmental damage to the area around the observatory.

Djunaedi, 30, a security guard who lives in the area, said on Tuesday that a tourism site would endanger both the observatory and neighboring residents.

"Rampant development of housing complexes around the observatory has caused environmental degradation. The most obvious proof is the way the temperature here has risen gradually," he said.

The hill where the observatory is located has also been deforested, and is another proof of the environmental degradation in the area, he added.

Another resident, 44-year-old Neneng, rejected the proposed development of a resort area near the observatory, saying it would damage Lembang's environment.

"The presence of the observatory helps us and Bandung residents to conserve our environment, preventing possible landslides and loss of water supplies," she said.

Neneng, who has been living in the area since 1981, also raised her skepticism as to whether people at the resort would respect the observatory's rules like she and other residents do.

Residents who live within 2.5 kilometers of the observatory turn off their lights every time scientists at Bosscha gaze into space using its world-class telescopes.

"Will other people obey the rules? Otherwise, it would disturb the scientific work." she said.

West Java Governor Danny Setiawan made an impromptu visit to Bosscha Observatory on Tuesday morning, in a response to mounting criticisms against his administration for granting permission to a private company to construct a tourism site in the formerly designated conservation areas nearby.

Bosscha Observatory head Moedji Raharto said Setiawan asked him about environment-related matters.

"We have a regulation that an area measuring 2.5 kilometers in radius from the observatory must be clear of houses and buildings. However, the illegal development of housing complexes and luxury villas continue to date," Moedji said.

The telescopes at the observatory could only have a clear view of outer space if it was situated at least one kilometer away from houses and buildings, as the lights would interfere with their ability to look at stars located thousands of light-years away.

In Australia, he said, the construction of housing complexes and buildings are banned within a radius of 50 kilometers from an observatory.

The Bandung administration recently allowed private company PT Baru Adjak to develop 75 hectares of land located a few kilometers below the observatory, previously a conservation area, into a tourism site.

Environmentalists and scientists, as well as the public, have criticized the controversial bylaw -- Bylaw No. 1/2003 -- that turned the conservation area into a commercial development site.

The lights from housing complexes, hotels and commercial buildings would increase light and air pollution and hamper the activities of the observatory, which has already lost 50 percent of its visibility.

Ten years ago, it could still see stars 3,000 light-years away; today, it can only see stars 1,500 light-years from earth.